Currently there are a number of instruments for effecting the same general results as the device of the present invention.
Contact lasers generate heat at a tip of a quite short optical fiber which is brought into contact with tissue to be treated. These devices produce high tissue damage, are expensive and produce poor coagulation.
Non-contact lasers located external to the body direct energy produced by a laser through an elongated optical fiber to the tissue. These devices suffer from all of the same faults as the contact lasers and in addition provide poor tactile feedback.
Hot scalpels comprise a heated blade to provide easier cutting than conventional scalpels and produce some coagulation during cutting. Again there is high tissue damage and the cutting edge dulls quickly. As such, the device is increasingly in limited use.
Ultrasonic scalpels are the product of an emerging technology about which little is known at the moment. This scalpel employs a cutting blade that is vibrated at ultrasonic frequencies which in practice is stated to enhance cutting and coagulation of tissue.
In electro-cautery, an electrical potential is developed at the end of the device to produce an arc at the end. The arc is used to cut, ablate and coagulate electrically grounded tissue. The device produces high tissue damage at the site of the arc, also the tissue must be grounded and this is accomplished through body fluids thus having the potential for tissue damage at unknown locations.